South Carolina makes the cut for another four-star DE from the DMV
South Carolina is continuing it’s work in the nation’s capital.
Daniel “DD” Holmes announced a top six on Wednesday that included USC, along with Rutgers, Michigan, Florida State, Florida and Maryland.
“That DMV to SC pipeline is strong for a reason,” he told On3 Sports’ Hayes Fawcett. “They have great people there with self motivated players which creates a great environment.”
Holmes is rated a four-star recruit and the No. 292 player in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite. The Gonzaga College High School (Washington, D.C.) product recorded 37 tackles and seven tackles for a loss as a junior during the 2022 season.
South Carolina as made a concerted effort to recruit the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area since Shane Beamer became the head coach in Columbia in December 2020.
The Gamecocks landed five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor (D.C.), four-star edge rusher Desmond Umeozulu (Maryland), four-star offensive tackle Oluwatosin “Tree” Babalade and three-star defensive back Zahbari Sandy (D.C) from the area in the 2023 class. USC also has a pledge from Maryland prospect Brayden Lee, a four-star prospect in the 2024 class.
Holmes, who plays at local powerhouse Gonzaga, faced off against Babalade (DeMatha), Sandy (St. Johns) and Harbor (Archbishop Carroll) during the 2023 season.
Beamer also has plenty of familiarity with Gonzaga. As an assistant coach at Oklahoma, he was part of the contingent that helped recruit 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams out of the school.
“I always thought when I was here as an assistant coach that it made a lot of sense for South Carolina to get into Virginia, Maryland and D.C..,” Beamer said at a Gamecock Club event in Aiken earlier this month. “...I always thought that would be a great area and the more I was away from South Carolina and I was recruiting that area for different schools — whether it was Virginia Tech, Georgia or Oklahoma — the more it made sense to me.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 12:59 PM.
